Kane Sweeney enters his second season as the head baseball coach at USC Upstate during the 2026 season after being announced as the program's fifth head coach on June 14, 2024. The 2025 season marks his seventh overall on the USC Upstate staff, serving on the staff as the associate head coach (2024) or assistant coach (2020-23) after being announced to the coaching staff on July 3, 2019.

In his first season at the helm, Sweeney led Upstate to its first-ever Big South Championships, claiming the regular season and tournament championships en route to an appearance in the NCAA Clemson Regional, where USC Upstate was the lone first-time qualifier in the 2026 NCAA Tournament field. He was one of three first-time head coaches to lead their program to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2025, joining Coastal Carolina's Kevin Schnall and West Virginia's Steve Sabins. Upstate's 36 wins in 2025 make Sweeney the winningest first-year head coach in program history, surpassing John Duarity (34 wins in 1986) while extending the Spartans' streak of seasons with 35 or more wins to five.

The Spartans collected numerous pieces of hardware throughout the 2025 season as the campaign saw the program's first-ever Dick Howser Trophy Semifinalist (Johnny Sweeney), an ABCA/Rawlings First Team All-American (J. Sweeney), a D1Baseball Second Team Freshman All-American (Henry Zenor), an ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove Finalist (Scott Newman), and two ABCA/Rawlings All-Region selections (J.Sweeney and Scott Campbell). A record 13 Spartans claimed All-Big South honors following the season, including Big South Coach of the Year honors for Kane Sweeney and Big South Newcomer of the Year honors for Amp Phillips.

USC Upstate led the nation in sac flies (40) following the 2025 season and ranked top-20 in the NCAA in nine additional categories: second in hits (685) and runs (569), third in scoring (9.5), seventh in doubles (140), 10th in batting average (.315), and 19th in HBP (114), home runs (101), on-base percentage (.418), and slugging percentage (.524). Johnny Sweeney ranked sixth in the NCAA in RBI, driving home a program-record 82 runs during the season.

In his five seasons leading the Spartans' offense before ascending to the head coaching position, Upstate has posted a team batting average of .284 or better in each season while scoring at least 6.7 runs per game. In each of the four full seasons under his direction—omitting the shortened 2020 season—the team's offense has collected 540 or more hits and 93 or more doubles while improving its home run total each season, including a program record 108 in 2024.

The 2024 season saw Upstate capture 36 victories, giving the program a fourth consecutive season with 35 or more wins, the longest such streak in program history. The Spartans set program records for hits (637) and home runs (108) while first baseman Grant Sherrod (78 RBI) and leftfielder Jace Rinehart (22 doubles and 173 total bases) established program records and rightfielder Koby Kropf (20 home runs and .704 slugging percentage) established a Division I era program record.

Six position players finished the season with All-Big South honors—a highwater mark since joining the Big South ahead of the 2019 season—with third baseman Vance Sheahan bringing home Big South Freshman of the Year accolades.

In 2023, Sweeney helped guide Upstate to one of the most successful seasons in program history as the program reached its first-ever Big South Tournament Championship Game while collecting a program-best 38 overall wins and 21 conference wins (non-40-game conference schedule) en route to the No. 2 seed in the Big South Championship.

Under his guidance, the Spartans' offense set program records for stolen bases (110) and sacrifice flies (48) while first baseman Grant Sherrod (15 home runs; 66 RBI; 140 total bases; .625 slugging percentage), second baseman Easton Cullison (25 stolen bases), and catcher David Pereira (seven sacrifice flies) all established Division I era program records. Four members of the team's offense ended the season with All-Big South honors.

In 2022, the offense, under Sweeney's direction, set the program record for times being hit by a pitch (103)—a total that ranked ninth in the NCAA—and ranked top three in the Big South in nine major statistical categories. He coached four All-Big South selections, helping lead designated hitter Noah Sullivan to Big South Freshman of the Year and Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American honors as the two-way player finished his season hitting .303 with 67 hits, 42 RBI, and 43 free bases.

In 2021, Upstate ranked top-50 in the NCAA in five major statistical categories, ranking top-25 in times hit by a pitch (16th), and batting average (24th). Five position players finished the season earning All-Big South honor.

During the shortened 2020 season, the Spartans' offense ranked top-50 in the NCAA in eight major statistical categories, ranking top-10 in the nation in times hit by a pitch (fourth) and triples (eighth).

Prior to Upstate, Sweeney returned to his alma mater, Morehead State, spending the 2018 and 2019 seasons on the Eagles' staff. His first season back in a Morehead State uniform concluded the same as his last during his playing career, with an OVC Championship, making an appearance in the 2018 NCAA Clemson Regional. The 2019 season saw the Eagles win a program-record 40 games, standing as the last OVC program to win 40 games in a single season.

He began his coaching career in the fall of 2017, serving as an assistant coach at Illinois-Springfield.

Sweeney was selected in the 29^th round of the 2015 MLB Draft by the New York Yankees, playing two seasons in the organization across three levels. He spent the remainder of the 2015 season with the Pulaski Yankees of the Appalachian League before being promoted to the Staten Island Yankees (New York-Penn League) and Charleston RiverDogs (South Atlantic League) in 2016.

He spent the 2017 season with The Frontier League's Washington Wild Things where he earned regular and postseason All-Star honors, leading the Wild Things to the Frontier League playoffs. With Washington, he hit .296 with 15 home runs and a .996 OPS while setting the franchise record for walks in a single season.

Sweeney played collegiately at Morehead State, helping the Eagles to a 2015 OVC Championship and NCAA Louisville Regional appearance as he led the team with 15 home runs during the campaign. He twice brought home All-OVC honors, being named Second Team All-OVC in 2013 and First Team All-OVC in 2015. Upon graduation, he held program records for career walks (148; since broken) and longest reached base streak (since broken; twice by players he coached).

A native of Millstadt, Ill., Sweeney graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Sport Management from Morehead State in 2015. He is married to the former Natalie Greenwell, and together they have two sons, Kashton and Kolton.

Name	Title	Email Address	Phone
Kane Sweeney	Head Coach	ksweeney@uscupstate.edu	864-503-5164
Nick Hoffman	Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator	hoffmanw@uscupstate.edu
Audie Afenir	Assistant Coach	aafenir@uscupstate.edu
Easton Cullison	Assistant Coach	eastonc@uscupstate.edu
Baker Cox	Director of Pitching Development	BBCOX@uscupstate.edu
Kyle Beaty	Student Assistant

2026 Baseball Coaching Staff

Coaching Staff

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